It's been awhile!

Hello Everyone! I know it has been a really long time since I’ve updated. I had a lot of things that I wanted to include in this blog- I visited Joe’s site for my birthday because I was a bit down at my village, and at the time it was fun. I had intended to write a lot more about it. Swearing in for the new group was a good time-they’ve been at their sites almost 2 months now. And then I had my long awaited trip back to America. It was so good to see all my friends and family and to be there for my friend’s wedding, which was beautiful and fun. Unfortunately, I had some unexpected personal things happen near the end of the trip that really put a bad spin on the last few days I had there. Because of these heartbreaking events, I was questioning my return to Suriname, unsure of how to handle things and the situation, but made the difficult decision to go back and try and stick it out for the remining 8 months. I haven’t returned to my site yet, but will be in about a week.

We are in the building stages for the DuroTanks. The village is supposed to have been building the cement stands for the tanks while I have been away- 2000 bricks made by hand. The sand has to be drawn from the river and then mixed with cement we bought in the city. I am curious as to how far they’ve come. Once all the bricks are built, we will bring in the tanks and install them. Then, after a training session, this year-long project will be complete!

We are in the final stages of completing the Welcome Sign we are working on with WWF. Once the budget is completed, they will be made and delivered to the village. It will be nice for the village to be known to travelers by name, not just by a big muddy entrance.

The money for the Life Vest project has been received. We will bring them to site and distribute them to the children when we bring the water tanks. Each family will pay a small monthly fee that will go to the Women’s Organization for the purchase of replacement vests.

I am a bit nervous to head back to site. I had expected to be back there by now, but took some personal time in the city and luckily Peace Corps was very understanding. The children will be starting back to school on the day I return, so I am sure it will be a busy day after their 6 week vacation.

I want to thank everyone for their support over the past few weeks. It means so much to know that I have a lot of understanding people out there for me. I miss you and can’t wait to see you over the holidays. Sorry this is so short and not very exciting.